Air cushion shoe sole

ABSTRACT

An air cushion shoe has an air chamber at an upper surface of a front side of a main body. An air passageway extends from the air chamber to an air inlet. Air pockets are formed in the main body at predetermined positions below the air passageway. First air vents are formed at a front side of the hardened reinforcement sheet positioned onto the main body to cover the open upper portions of the air passageway and the air pockets. Second air vents are formed at a front side of a main body of a shoe liner. A cushioning material having a honeycomb structured body is formed at the bottom surface of the main body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to an air cushion shoe sole, andmore particularly to an air cushion shoe sole capable of providing goodelastic air cushioning and shock-absorbing effects for relieving footpressure during the entire walking gait cycle of a wearer, wherein anair chamber is formed in an upper surface of the front side of the mainbody, wherein an air passageway extends from the rear side of the airchamber to an air inlet formed at a rear side edge of the shoe sole,wherein pluralities of air pockets are formed in the main body atpredetermined positions below the air passageway, wherein pluralities offirst air vents are formed at the front side of a hardened reinforcementsheet, in which the hardened reinforcement sheet is positioned onto theupper surface of the main body in a manner that it has an extendedwarranty to cover the open upper portion of air passageway and the openupper portions of the air pockets, wherein pluralities of second airvents are formed at the front side of the main body of a shoe liner, andwherein a cushioning material having a honeycomb structured body isformed at the bottom surface of the main body of the shoe liner.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A variety of air cushion shoe soles for providing a wearer withcomfortable feelings and elastic air cushioning effects by introducingthe air into the shoe have been proposed.

For example, an air cushion shoe sole according to the prior art isprovided with an upper shoe sole and a lower shoe sole, which are formedas a separate piece and then combined with each other by using anadhesive so as to form an integral shoe sole. Pluralities of cushionparts are formed through the boundary region between the upper shoe soleand the lower shoe sole in a manner to have a tunnel shape. Pluralitiesof through holes are formed through the upper shoe sole in thecorresponding area of the cushion parts.

If a user walks along the street with wearing on a shoe employing theair cushion shoe sole according to the prior art, the shoe solecomprising the upper and the lower shoe soles may be compressed andexpand repeatedly and thereby it performs an air cushioning action dueto the structure and the operation of the cushion parts having a tunnelshape. During air cushioning action, the air may be introduced into theshoe through the upper shoe sole having the through holes which arefluid-communicated with the cushion parts.

Since the shoe employing the air cushion shoe sole according to theprior art has the cushion parts which are formed through the boundaryregion between the upper shoe sole and the lower shoe sole in thehorizontal direction, it may permeable to water in the rain or duringcross the pool of water. When a user walks in the rain or during crossthe pool of water with wearing on a shoe employing the air cushion shoesole according to the prior art, water may be introduced into thecushion parts at first and then it may flow upwards via the throughholes and thereby the foot of the wearer gets wet.

Alternatively, for example, an air cushion shoe sole according to theprior art can be provided with an air bag or a shock-absorbing springtherein so as to provide the wearer with a cushion effect. Although theair bag or the shock-absorbing spring can provide the wearer with goodcushion effect, they must be separately manufactured and then must beinstalled by using some tools for fixing them in the shoe sole. Onedrawback of using the air bag or the shock-absorbing spring is that themanufacturing process may require a large number of parts and additionalmanufacturing steps, thereby resulting in the generation of excessmanufacturing cost. Also, the weight of the shoe may be increased.

Another drawback of such known shoe sole is that the shock-absorbingspring made of a metal material is apt to damage the shoe sole andthereby resulting in the rupture of the shoe. Another drawback of suchknown shoe sole is that the shock-absorbing spring made of a metalmaterial is apt to generate an unbearable noise and thereby it gives thewearer an unpleasant feeling during the entire walking gait cycle of awearer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In consideration of the above-mentioned disadvantages or inconveniencesof the conventional shoe sole, an object of the present invention is toprovide an air cushion shoe sole capable of providing good elastic aircushioning and shock-absorbing effects for relieving foot pressureduring the entire walking gait cycle of a wearer, wherein an air chamberis formed in an upper surface of the front side of the main body,wherein an air passageway extends from the rear side of the air chamberto an air inlet formed at a rear side edge of the shoe sole, whereinpluralities of air pockets are formed in the main body at predeterminedpositions below the air passageway, wherein pluralities of first airvents are formed at the front side of a hardened reinforcement sheet, inwhich the hardened reinforcement sheet is positioned onto the uppersurface of the main body in a manner that it has an extended warranty tocover the open upper portion of air passageway and the open upperportions of the air pockets, wherein pluralities of second air vents areformed at the front side of the main body of a shoe liner, and wherein acushioning material having a honeycomb structured body is formed at thebottom surface of the main body of the shoe liner.

In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides an aircushion shoe sole of the type in which a hardened reinforcement sheet isdisposed at the total upper surface of a main body and a shoe liner isdetachably positioned at an upper surface of the hardened reinforcementsheet, the improvement comprising:

a non-slip cushion sheet being integrally formed with a bottom surfaceof the main body;

a nonskid member being positioned into a recess formed at the bottomsurface of the main body;

an air chamber being formed at the upper surface of a front side of themain body, the air chamber having an open upper portion;

an air passageway extending from a rear side of the air chamber to afirst air inlet formed at a rear side edge, the air passageway having anopen upper portion;

pluralities of air pockets being formed in the main body atpredetermined positions below the air passageway, the air pockets havinga open upper portion, respectively;

pluralities of first air vents being formed at a front side of thehardened reinforcement sheet, the first air vents beingfluid-communicated with the air chamber;

the hardened reinforcement sheet being positioned onto the upper surfaceof the main body in a manner that it has an extended warranty to coverthe open upper portion of air passageway and the open upper portions ofthe air pockets;

pluralities of second air vents being formed at a front side of a mainbody of the shoe liner, the second air vents being fluid-communicatedwith the first air vent of the hardened reinforcement sheet; and

a cushioning material having a honeycomb structured body being formed atthe bottom surface of the main body, in which the honeycomb-shapedgrooves are formed in a row and has a open lower portion, respectively.

As described above, the air cushion shoe sole according to the presentinvention has significant advantages over previously known shoe sole. Inthe air cushion shoe sole according to the present invention, theplurality of air pockets and the air chamber having the air passagewayare provided in the main body of the shoe sole, and the hardenedreinforcement sheet is positioned onto the upper surface of the mainbody in a manner that it has an extended warranty to cover the openupper portion of air passageway and the open upper portions of the airpockets. Due to the constitution of the shoe sole as described above,the air may be collected in the air chamber at first and then it may beintroduced into the interior of the shoe via the hardened reinforcementsheet and the shoe liner. Due to the existence of the air chamber, theair pockets and the air passageway, total volume of the shoe sole may bereduced and thereby resulting in weight reduction of the shoe. Also, itgives a considerable reduction in manufacturing costs.

By virtue of the manufacture of the main body of the shoe sole, whichcan be made of a foam rubber, while affording the same shock absorbingeffect, the damage of the shoe sole can be substantially less than washitherto the case. By virtue of simple installation of the non-slipcushion sheet at the bottom surface of the shoe sole, total structure ofthe shoe sole can be substantially simpler than was hitherto the case.By virtue of simple installation of the nonskid member at the bottomsurface of the shoe sole, it is possible to prevent the foot of a wearerfrom slipping during the entire walking gait cycle of the wearer,thereby providing good bottom support, elastic air cushioning andshock-absorbing effects for relieving foot pressure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above object and other characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent by describing in detail a preferredembodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an air cushion shoe soleaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line “A-A” shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main body for the air cushion shoe soleaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the main body for the air cushion shoe soleaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a shoe liner for the air cushion shoe soleaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a rear portion of the shoeliner shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view for illustrating the invention with anonskid member in different operative positions, “B” and “C” shown inFIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the constitution and the operation of an air cushion shoesole according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention willbe explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawingsFIGS. 1 to 7.

Prior to proceeding to the more detailed description of the preferredembodiment according to the present invention, it should be noted that,for the sake of clarity and understanding of the invention identicalcomponents which have identical functions have been identified withidentical reference numerals throughout the different views which areillustrated in each of the attached drawing Figures.

As will be best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, this invention relates to the aircushion shoe sole 1 has a substantially arc shape on the whole of whichfront and rear portions are slanted upwards at a predetermined angle ofinclination. The shoe sole 1 comprises a hardened reinforcement sheet 20which is disposed onto the upper surface of a main body 10 of the shoesole 1. The shoe sole 1 also comprises a shoe liner 30 made of a softmaterial, which is detachably positioned onto an upper surface of thehardened reinforcement sheet 20. If a user puts on wear a shoe employingthe shoe sole 1 according to the present invention, the upper surface ofthe shoe liner 30 may be touched with the sole of the user's foot.

The main body 10 is made of a foam rubber material of which hydrolysismay not be occurred. A non-slip cushion sheet 15 is attached to a bottomsurface of the main body 10. Referring now to the drawings FIGS. 4 and7, a recess 16 is formed at the bottom surface of the main body 10 at apredetermined position. A nonskid member 17 is inserted into the recess16 and fixed therein.

Preferably, the nonskid member 17 may be made by mixing a soft syntheticresin or a synthetic rubber material with some abrasive material such assand. Alternatively, the nonskid member 17 can be made of tough rawrubber.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 to 3, an air chamber 13 is provided at an uppersurface of the main body 10 in a manner to positionally correspond to anapproximate front portion of the user's foot. An air inlet 14 forintroducing the air is provided at a rear side edge 18 of the main body10. An air passageway 12 longitudinally extends between the air chamber13 and the air inlet 14.

Pluralities of air pockets 11 are provided at certain positions betweenthe air chamber 13 and the air inlet 14 at the upper surface of the mainbody 10 in a manner to have a different depth. Upper portions of the airpockets 11 are open.

The hardened reinforcement sheet 20 is positioned onto the upper surfaceof the main body 10 in a manner to cover the total upper surface.Pluralities of air vents 21 are formed at the front side of the hardenedreinforcement sheet 20 in a manner to fluid-communicated with the airchamber 13. If the hardened reinforcement sheet 20 is positioned ontothe upper surface of the main body 10, it may block pluralities of airpockets 11, the air passageway 12 and the air chamber 13. Since theheight of air pocket 11 formed at the bottom surface of the airpassageway 12 is relatively smaller than that of the air passageway 12or the air chamber 13, the bottom surface of the hardened reinforcementsheet 20 cannot completely block the upper surface of the air pocket 11.Therefore, a certain quantity of air may be filled in the air pockets11.

As described above, the shoe liner 30 is made of a soft material and isdetachably attached to the upper surface of the hardened reinforcementsheet 20. Pluralities of second air vents 33 are formed at a front sideof a main body 31 of the shoe liner 30 in a manner to fluid-communicatedwith the first air vents 21 of the hardened reinforcement sheet 20. Acushioning material 32 having a honeycomb structured body is formed atthe bottom surface of the main body 31. This cushioning material 32 ismade of a soft synthetic resin and has honeycomb-shaped grooves 34 whichare formed in a row.

A lower part of the cushioning material 32 is open so that the lowerportion of the honeycomb-shaped groove 34 is also open. The depth of thehoneycomb-shaped groove 34 is gradually increased toward the heel zoneof the air cushion shoe sole 1 so that it may allow for effectivelyabsorbing a user' weight during walking gait cycle.

The reference numeral “2” is corresponding to a shoe sheath. Thereference numeral “19” is corresponding to a decorative design member orlogo configured to affix to the heel zone of the air cushion shoe sole1.

Having described air cushion shoe sole according to the preferredembodiment of the present invention in detail, the operation of the shoesole 1 can be understood as follows with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

If a person puts on a shoe employing the air cushion shoe sole 1 asdescribed above and walks on a road with accompanying rolling of thefoot, then the heal zone of the shoe may be touched with the ground. Atthis time, the main body 10 may expand and contract repeatedly in amanner to perform the shock damping action and the pumping action.

As described above, pluralities of air pockets 11 are provided atcertain positions between the air chamber 13 and the air inlet 14 at theupper surface of the main body 10 in a manner to have a different depth.The hardened reinforcement sheet 20 is positioned onto the upper surfaceof the main body 10 in a manner to cover the total upper surface. Atthis time, since the height of air pocket 11 formed at the bottomsurface of the air passageway 12 is relatively smaller than that of theair passageway 12 or the air chamber 13, the bottom surface of thehardened reinforcement sheet 20 cannot completely block the uppersurface of the air pocket 11. Therefore, a certain quantity of air maybe filled in the air pockets 11. Consequently, the air pockets 11 mayexpand and contract repeatedly to perform the shock damping action andthe pumping action in the same manner as the operation of the air bag.

Because of the air pockets 11 are provided at certain positions betweenthe air chamber 13 and the air inlet 14 at the upper surface of the mainbody 10 in a manner to have a different depth, the total weight of themain body 10 may be relieved as much as the total volume of the airpockets 11. It is foreseen that the main body 10 is made of an elasticrubber material and has an inherent elasticity. Add to this, the airpockets 11 further provide the elasticity because of it contains acertain quantity of air. Consequently, it can provide good air cushioneffect at the time that the shoe is contacted with the ground duringwalking and the accompanying rolling of the foot.

If a person walks along the street with wearing on a shoe employing theair cushion shoe sole according to the present invention, the main body10 may be compressed at first. At this time, the air contained in theair pockets 11 may be also compressed and thereby it can provide goodair cushion effect at the time that the shoe is contacted with theground.

If the main body 10 is compressed during walking and the accompanyingrolling of the foot, the air contained in the air pockets 11, the airpassageway 12 and the air chamber 13 may be also compressed. At thistime, the air may be exhausted through a relatively low-pressure side.The first air inlet 14 formed at the rear side of the air passageway 12is a one through hole having a relatively small size. As describedabove, pluralities of first air vents 21 are formed at the front side ofthe hardened reinforcement sheet 20 in a manner to fluid-communicatedwith the air chamber 13. Since the total size of the first air vents 21is larger than the size of the air inlet 14, the air contained in theair pockets 11, the air passageway 12 and the air chamber 13 may beexhausted through the first air vents 21.

Since pluralities of second air vents 33 are formed at a front side ofthe main body 31 of the shoe liner 30 in a manner to fluid-communicatedwith the first air vents 21 of the hardened reinforcement sheet 20, theair ascending through the first air vents 21 of the hardenedreinforcement sheet 20 may be introduced into the interior of the shoethrough the second air vents 33 of the shoe liner 30. Consequently, thewearer of the shoe may feel refreshed and be comfortable due to supplyof the air.

If the wearer raise up his or her foot from the ground during the entirewalking and the accompanying rolling of the foot, the foot pressureapplied to the main body 10 may disappear. At the same time, the mainbody 10 begins to expand due to the air cushion action of the air pocket11 and its restoring force of the main body 10.

If the main body 10 expands, the air may be introduced into the airpassageway 12 via the air inlet 14. Then, pluralities of air pockets 11provided below the air passageway 12 and the air chamber 13 may befilled with the air.

As described above, when a user walks along the street with wearing on ashoe employing the air cushion shoe sole 1 according to the presentinvention, the main body 10 is compressed and expands repeatedly andthereby it performs an air cushioning operation and a pumping operation.Since the cushioning material 32 having a honeycomb structured body isformed at the bottom surface of the main body 31 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2and 5, 6, it may allow for effectively absorbing a user' weight duringwalking gait cycle.

As described above, the cushioning material 32 has honeycomb-shapedgrooves 34 which are formed in a row. The open lower portion of thehoneycomb-shaped grooves 34 is blocked by the upper surface of thehardened reinforcement sheet 20 so that the honeycomb-shaped grooves 34can perform the shock damping action and the pumping action in the samemanner as the operation of the air pockets. Since pluralities ofhoneycomb-shaped grooves 34 are formed in a row, the user's weightresting on the shoe liner 30 can be uniformly distributed andelastically supported with providing the sole of the foot with a uniformcushion.

As described above, the non-slip cushion sheet 15 is integrally formedwith the main body 10. The non-slip cushion sheet 15 is made of foamrubber which is the same as that of the main body 10. Accordingly, thereis nothing to worry about that the additional non-slip cushion sheetemployed in the conventional shoe sole may be easily detached from thebottom surface of the shoe sole. Also, it is not required to haveadditional process for attaching the non-slip cushion sheet to thebottom surface of the shoe sole so that the terms of manufacturingprocess can be reduced. Additionally, it is possible to obtain anextended warranty to cover any damages or malfunctions that may occurduring the manufacturing process. In addition, since the main body 10 ismade of foam rubber, there is no hydrolysis.

Since the non-slip cushion sheet 15 is formed at the bottom surface ofthe main body 10 and the nonskid member 17 is attached to the bottomsurface of the main body 10 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, it can give goodbottom support and excellent non-slip effects during the entire walkinggait cycle of the wearer. In more detail, the nonskid member 17 ispositioned into the recess 16 formed at the bottom surface of the mainbody 10 and then it is fixed therein by using an adhesive.

Due to the constitution of the air cushion shoe sole as described above,it is possible to prevent the foot of a wearer from slipping during theentire walking gait cycle, thereby providing good bottom support,elastic air cushioning and shock-absorbing effects for relieving footpressure.

While the invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the invention without departing from theessential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the inventionnot be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best modecontemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the inventionwill include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. An air cushion shoe sole, comprising: a tread member having a treadmember upper surface, a tread member bottom surface with a tread formedthereon, a toe end, and a heel end, the tread member having a treadlength extending from the toe end to the heel end; a hardenedreinforcement sheet disposed over the tread member upper surface andextending substantially over the tread length, the hardenedreinforcement sheet having a reinforcement sheet upper surface and areinforcement sheet lower surface; a shoe liner detachably positioned atthe reinforcement sheet upper surface in an unbonded state so as to befreely removable; the tread being formed as a non-slip cushion sheetintegrally formed with the tread member at the tread member bottomsurface; a nonskid member disposed in a recess formed in the treadmember bottom surface; an air chamber formed in the tread member uppersurface proximate said toe end, the air chamber being a first recesshaving a first recess opening; an air passageway extending from a rearside of the air chamber to a first air inlet formed at the heel end ofthe tread member, the air passageway being formed as a second recess inthe tread member upper surface and defining a second recess opening anda second recess bottom; air pockets formed in the tread member main atpredetermined positions below the air passageway, the air pockets beingthird recesses formed in the tread member having third recess openingsformed at least in part by the second recess bottom; first air ventsformed in the hardened reinforcement sheet proximate said toe end, thefirst air vents being fluid-communicated with the air chamber; thehardened reinforcement sheet being positioned onto the tread memberupper surface to cover the second recess opening of the air passagewayand the third recess openings of the air pockets; said shoe linerincluding a shoe liner main body having second air vents formed in theshoe liner main body proximate said toe end, the second air vents beingfluid-communicated with the first air vents of the hardenedreinforcement sheet, the shoe liner main body having a shoe liner uppersurface and a shoe liner bottom surface, the second air ventscommunicating from the shoe liner upper surface to the shoe liner bottomsurface with the shoe liner being configured such that the air cushionsole expels air through the second air vent to outside the shoe linerand into an interior of a shoe; and a cushioning layer having ahoneycomb structured body at the shoe liner bottom surface, thehoneycomb structured body having honeycomb-shaped grooves are formed inrows and open to a lower surface of the cushioning layer.